Houses
The astrological 'houses' are a concept used mostly in natal astrology to separate the 24 hours following an event (e.g. a birth) into 12 sections, corresponding to the sections of the Zodiac that rose on the horizon in that time period. The first house, is known as the 'Ascendant' and begins at whatever point of the Zodiac was rising on the horizon at the moment of the horoscope, hence why the sign of the Ascendant is also known as your 'rising sign' in natal astrology. The length of time given to each house varies between systems, with the most ancient systems site dividing the Zodiac evenly between the 12 houses and later systems choosing to adjust the relative lengths of each house to align the 4 quadrants with the most important points: the Ascendant (1st house), the Midheaven (7th house), the Descendant (10th house) and the Nadir (4th House). Background Yeah, “houses” are like a second coordinate system telling you what time of day each planet rose into the local sky. Planets in House 1-6 were beneath the horizon when you were born, and within the first 12 hours of your life they rose up into the sky. Planets in houses 7-12 were in the sky when you were born and then “set” under the horizon later. Anyone born on the same day as you will have roughly the same planets in the same signs, but depending on what time and place you’re born, you encountered the planets in a different position in the sky at the moment you were born. This forms the way you express these planets in later life. |FalconAstrology://Eros in the Signs of the Zodiac> "The SIGNS indicates how the needs and drives of the planets will express. Just as Mars in Leo may have a dramatic flare and fixedness to its drive to take action, so Eros in Leo would have a flamboyant spark in its approach to erotic love. The signs describe the way a need functions. The HOUSES in turn represent areas of life, inner and outer. They symbolize the environment where the need or drive is acting out. The ruler on the house cups and the sign or signs contained in the house suggest the climate found in that environment. Any planets residing in a given house indicates that the needs and drives implied by them tend to operate strongly in that area of life. Entering or doing that area of life will evoke the needs and drives of the planets found there. ... Howard Sasportas, in his book ''The Twelve Houses, ''states: Any planet or sign in a house always suggests the most natural way to unfold the life plan in the area of life the house represents."|FalconAstrology://Eros in the Signs of the Zodiac> House Sizes http://members.bitstream.net/bunlion/bpi/House.html "If you look at a typical astrology chart and figure out the sizes of each house (as measured by how many degrees along the zodiac it stretches), you'll find there are big houses and small ones (unless you're using an off-brand house system such as the Equal House System). For any "reasonable" system, unequal sized houses are normal. It boils down to the issue that the MidHeaven and the Ascendent are hardly ever exactly 90 degrees apart. For instance, here in Minneapolis (latitude 44N59), the distance between the MH and Asc can vary from 78 to 112 degrees throughout the day; farther north, the discrepency is even larger. With the Angles bent out of shape like this, it's impossible to get equal 30 degree houses. The reasons for this discrepency are strictly geometrical, again. They are the same reasons why the days of summer are so much longer than winter days -- the Sun has a farther distance to travel from the horizon to the its high point in the sky in the summer. This is because the ecliptic is tilted 23-1/2 degrees from the equator and because of peculiarities of the geometry of a sphere. Generally speaking, houses tend to approach 30 degrees near the equator, but become really distorted as you move towards the poles. The exact details are unimportant, however. " https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-201385,00.html Note: "Solar noon" is the moment when the sun is conjunct the Midheaven. Sunrise/Sunset are when the Sun is conjunct the Ascendant/Descendant, respectively.T "When the solar day is shorter than 24 hours the position of the sun in the sky at “clock noon” edges gradually westwards day by day, when it’s longer than 24 hours it edges eastwards. Sunset and sunrise are symmetric around “solar noon” (the time the sun crosses your meridian), not clock noon. Between around the beginning of September and Christmas Day the sun is already west of your meridian at clock noon so solar noon is earlier than clock noon (by around 3 minutes on 12th December). As the day is symmetrical around solar noon, less than half the day’s sunlight occurs after clock noon and more than half before. After Christmas Day (until mid-April) the sun is still east of your meridian by clock noon so solar noon is later than clock noon (again by around 3 minutes on the 31st December) and more than half the day’s sunlight occurs after clock noon and less than half before. Close to the shortest day the actual length of daylight time varies very little so the effects of these changes in the difference between solar time and clock time become quite apparent in this asymmetry in sunrise and sunset times." - Frank Roberts, London UK https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/new-york E.g. using NYC on Jul 16: Sunrise = SR, Sunset=SS, Solar Noon = SN Shows approximate symmetry Characteristics *http://www.indigoray.net/wheel.html *https://naturallynatty.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/how-to-interpret-your-birth-chart/ *http://astrolifelessons.com/astrology-101/the-houses/ Qualities: Just like the 12 signs of the Zodiac have qualities (Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable), the 12 houses have their own qualities which are roughly analogout: Angular, Succedent and Cadent. The angular houses comprise the initiating houses of each quadrant and their cusps are considered the four most important points on the chart. Quadrants: The 12 houses can be split into four quadrants, relating to different areas of expression for the person or event being analysed. Angular Houses The four most critical houses are considered to be the Ascendant, the Descen The Descendant The descendant is the point of the Zodiac directly opposite the Ascendant, and in Synastry is considered to be the sign of the people you are most attracted toDescendant details https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descendant_%28astrology%29. The Nadir (Imum Coeli; IC) http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/astrologicalmusings/2006/12/a-look-at-the-imum-coeli.html Succedent Houses .. Cadent Houses Cadent houses are analogous to mutable signs and have mutable signs as their domiciles. These houses signify a progression from one quadrant of the horoscope to the next, much like seasons changing. House VI: The 6th House is considered the house of health and serving others. It was traditionally considered as a 'malefic' house and planets here considered to be weakened or challenged. House Systems |Astro.com:/FAQ/Charts/House Systems> PLACIDUS :"The Pacidus house system divides the phases of planetary and star movement above and below the horizon into equal-sized parts. A planet on the cusp of the twelfth house, for example, has already passed 1/6 of its so-called diurnal arc, a planet on the eleventh house cusp 2/6, a planet on the MC 3/6 or half of its diurnal arc, etc. The houses below the horizon divide the so-called 'nocturnal arc' of the stars and planets. :So, the Placidus system divides celestial movements and is consequently considered a time-oriented system."|Astro.com:/FAQ/Charts/House Systems> KOCH :"The Koch house system (also called "house system of the birth place") is defined by horizon lines at different times on the day of birth. We calculate the timespan that the MC zodiac degree has spent above the horizon since its rising. The cusp of the twelfth house is where the Ascendant was when 1/3 of this time had passed, the eleventh house cusp is where the Ascendant was when 2/3 of that time had passed. The cusps of houses 9 and 8 can be explained as Descendants for 1/3 and 2/3 respectively of this time span after birth." REGIOMONTANUS :"The Regiomontanus house system divides the celestial equator into twelve equal segments. Then, great circles are drawn from the North point through these segment points to the South point. The intersection of these lines with the ecliptic (zodiac) make up the house cusps according to Regiomontanus. So, the sky is - similar to the Campanus system - divided like an orange, but the different segments of the 'orange' have different sizes. :The Regiomontanus system is considered a house system defined by space." EQUAL :"The equal house system defines the Ascendant as the cusp of the first house. Each house has the same size ("equal") of exactly 30°. The 10th house cusp therefore does not coincide with the MC but is square to the Ascendant and consequently the highest point of the zodiac above the horizon. :The equal house system has been in use since the time of antiquity." EQUAL (MC) :"This house system places the MC exactly on the cusp of the 10th house. Each house has the same size ("equal") of exactly 30°. The Ascendant does not usually coincide with the cusp of the 1st house." WHOLE SIGN HOUSES :"The Whole Sign house system considers the whole sign of the zodiac that contains the Ascendant as the first house. The following zodiac sign is the second house and so on. Here, houses are always complete zodiac signs. The Whole Sign houses belong to the group of equal ("same size") houses. :The Whole Sign house system has been in use since antiquity and is currently especially popular in Indian siderean astrology." PORPHYRY :"The Porphyry house system creates the intermediate houses by dividing each of the four quadrants into three equal-sized segments. :The house system traces back to the ancient philosopher and scholar Porphyry (233-305?)." https://cafeastrology.com/compare-house-systems-report.html Compare Astrological House Systems Report Empty Houses (coming soon) Since there are classically only 5 major planets and 2 luminaries (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn), the majority of a chart's 12 houses tend to be "empty" in the classical sense. However, when allowing for the additional modern major planets (Neptune, Uranus, Pluto) and perhaps a few major/significant asteroids (Ceres, Chiron, Vesta) it is possible for a chart to have each of the 12 houses occupied - although rare. The houses that do not carry a major planet are generally said to be "empty houses" and can be read as a sign that the area of life signified by such a house (e.g. 'communication, learning, siblings and short trips' for House III) may struggle to find a natural outlet in the life of the person holding that chart (the 'chart holder'). Some astrologers say, for example, that an empty 5th house may be an indicator that a chart holder will be less likely to have children. Others may say an empty 7th house implies that relationships will not be a natural focus of the holder's life. Links Astrotheme's page on the houses References Category:Astrology Category:Natal Astrology Category:Houses